Bison Song
written by: Shelly Norris
I
Underground, Dead Ones
Chant, above plains stampede; cloaked
In makeshift hides, skinned
Spirits inhabit mortal
Herds, refugees driven north.
II
Weary of winters
Snow-packed to withers, massive
Heads, necks, shoulders doze
Drifts; who can forget sweet seas
Of tender buffalo grass?
III
Once, East ended here:
The door of Paha Ska’s lodge
Where wind stings of black
Powder, slaughtered kin, and earth
Mingled red with blood
IV
Snow Eater sends blue
Sage notes up from Wapiti
Valley, warm anthem
For the last great hunter’s death;
The herd waits for this clean sign.
V
The Ancients whisper
Disobey these iron guards
Built to halt cattle;
One, two, then dozens of hooves
Shatter long frozen silence.
VI
Crescent moonlight arcs
The horns of each wave, this dark
River shrugging its
Ice mantle; night blind, star fire,
Wind seekers, sacred reclaimed.
Shelly Norris currently resides in the woods of central Missouri with her husband John, two dogs, and seven cats. A Wyoming native, Norris began writing poetry around the age of 12. As a single mother of three sons, Norris had to concentrate on achieving an education and beginning a career to sufficiently support the family. Early in this journey it became clear that pennies from publishing poetry would not feed and shod hungry barefoot boys, so she necessarily dedicated her time and energy to building a teaching career. Meanwhile, working in the shadows grading sub-par essays, and editing for other writers, she has been slow to send forth her own writings into the cold world of rejection and possible publication in obscure volumes. One who struggled furiously with the art-life balance, Norris knew her destiny to be—like Burroughs, Bukowski, Stevens, and Wilder—a more dedicated and widely published writer later in life. While pecking away at various essays, short stories, and a couple of novels, Norris is wrestling a pile of about 100 poems into cohesive chapbooks and manuscripts embodying the vicissitudes of unrequited love and loss, dysfunctional wounds, healing quests, and the role of cats in the universal scheme.
Latest posts by Shelly Norris
(see all)
